Agility Training in Parkinson's Disease

A High-Intensity Multi-Component Agility Intervention Improves Parkinson's Patients' Clinical and Motor Symptoms

To determine the effects of an unusually highly intensity and individualized sensorimotor and visuomotor agility exercise program on non-demented PD patients' clinical symptoms, mobility, and postural stability.

Design: Intervention study Setting: Outpatient rehabilitation center Participants: 55 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients completed the trial and 42 serves as comparison healthy controls Intervention: An initial screening established specific dysfunctions of PD patients with Hoehn-Yahr stage 2-3 who were then randomly assigned to standard care (n = 20) or standard care plus at-limit intensity, individualized agility program (15 sessions, 3 weeks, n = 35). Main outcome measures: Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale, Motor Experiences of Daily Living, a measure sensitive to changes in a broad spectrum of PD symptoms In group time, repeated measurements of variance analysis were compared to the picture parkinson's disease based on MDS-UPDRS M-EDL, Beck depression score, PDQ-39, EQ5D VAS, Schwab & England scale. The TUG test and 12 static posturographic measurements are compared and compared to the healthy group as a standard. An at-limit and individualized sensorimotor and visuomotor agility exercise program vs. standard care, will improve non-demented, stage 2-3 PD patients' clinical symptoms, mobility, and postural stability by functionally meaningful margins.

The single-arm, 3-week-long intervention, administered daily, targeted postural instability and mobility using at-limit intensity sensorimotor and visuomotor agility training (n = 35, 17 males) conceptualized but seldom implemented previously. Each of the 15 training sessions lasted 60 minutes. Patients performed each exercise under increasingly difficult conditions and speed according to principles of periodization. All patients kept an exercise log detailing the positive and negative effects of the intervention on clinical and motor symptoms. The logs and attendance were checked daily. The no-intervention control, consisting of PD patients (n = 20, 12 males) received unsupervised standard care, consisting of the prescribed medications and daily, unsupervised 30 minutes of exercises at home.

Parkinson's disease group that receive 3 weeks of intensive exercise therapy in a rehabilitation center.

3-week-long intervention, administered daily, targeted postural instability and mobility using at-limit intensity sensorimotor and visuomotor agility training

Inclusion Criteria: Parkinson's disease Hoenh Yahr scale of 2-3 Instability problem Exclusion Criteria: Severe heart problems Severe demeanor Alcoholism Drug problems

Tollar J, Nagy F, Kovacs N, Hortobagyi T. Two-Year Agility Maintenance Training Slows the Progression of Parkinsonian Symptoms. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019 Feb;51(2):237-245. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001793.